Garment clamp



Feb. 18, 1958 c. L. ALLEN 2,823,840

GARMENT CLAMP Filed Jan. 5, 1956 ATT URNEY United States Patent GARMENTCLAMP Charles Leroy Allen, deceased, late of Drumheller, Al-

berta, Canada, by Donna Maude Allen, executrix, Drumheller, Alberta,Canada Application January 3, 1956, Serial No. 557,124

4 Claims. (Cl. 223--91) This device relates generally to hangars andparticularly to improvements to garment clamps of the type attachable toa conventional wire coat hangar.

The principal object of this device is to provide a garment hangarattachable to the bottom bar of a coat hangar that will not move alongthe bar of the coat hangar unless adjusted manually.

. A second object is to provide a garment hangar of this type that willnot shake loose from the bar of the coat hangar.

An additional object is to provide a garment hangar that is attachedfirmly to the bottom bar of a coat hangar and is maintained thereonindependently of the weight of garments suspended from the hangar.

Prior garment hangars of the type attachable to the bottom bar of aconventional coat hangar include the skirt hangar described andillustrated in Patent No. 2,129,455. issued September 6, 1938 to H. D.Wisehart et a1. and the garment hangar described herein relatesspecifically to improvements to this hangar. As set out in this priorpatent this skirt hangar comprises angularly disposed arms one of whichterminates in a helical coil that is attachable to the bottom bar of acoat hangar while the other arm terminates in a garment clamp and theweight of a garment suspended in the garment clamp serves to cant thehelical coil and maintain the coil in frictional engagement with thebottom bar of the coat hangar. The obvious disadvantage in a hangar ofthis type lies in the fact that once the garment weight is removed thehelical coil is no longer canted into frictional engagement with thebottom bar of the hangar and the clamps may move freely on the bottombar. In some instances the clamps have been found to move along thebottom bar of the hangar while a garment is sus pended therefrom if thegarment is for some reason moved upwardly momentarily to release thecoil from engagement with the bar. In other instances it has been foundthat the ordinary movement of the hangar during transportation has beensufficient to release the helical coil from engagement with the bar andthe hangars have become lost or mislaid.

An additional object of the present device therefore is to provide agarment hangar wherein the above recited disadvantages have beenovercome. The improved con struction leading to the elimination of thesedisadvantages will be seen clearly in reference to the attached drawingswhich form a part of the specification which should be read in the lightthereof. It must be understood that the information disclosed in thespecification and drawings is by way of example and illustration onlyand is not to be construed as a limitation.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view illustrating my improved garment hangarattached to the bottom bar of a conventional coat hangar andillustrating a garment in phantom lines suspended therefrom.

Figure 2 is a broken away perspective view showing my hangar attached tothe bottom bar of a coat hangar 2,823,840 Patented Feb. is, 1958 with agarment suspended therefrom in an alternate manner.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the device.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a coat hangar andwith an alternative embodiment of my device attached thereto.

With reference now to the drawings it will be seen that my devicecomprises the arms 1 and 2 which are disposed angularly and areconnected together by the helical coil 3. The arm 2 is terminated in agarment clamp which may be of the type designated generally by thenumerals 4, 5 or 6. The arm 1 terminates in a hooked portion 7 whosefunction will be described later in the specification.

In operation my device is attached to a conventional coat hangar whichis illustrated in Figure 1 in the drawings and comprises the hook 8,sides 9-9 and bottom bar 10. The device is attached to the bottom bar 10of the coat hangar by hooking the coil 3 over the bar and then movingthe arm 2 into a substantially vertical position to force the arm 1upwardly and allow the engagement of the hook 7 with the bar 10. The bar1 is of spring construction and when forced upwardly to engage the hook7 with the bar 10 the coil 3 is canted sufiiciently to maintain the coilin tight frictional engagement with the bar 1 and thereby preventunwanted movement of the device along the bar 10. With the hook 7engaged on the bar 10 it is necessary to apply upward pressure on thearm 2 to release the coil 3 and allow manual adjustment of the devicealong the bar 10.

As will be seen in Figure l in the drawing a garment 11 is suspended atone side in the garment clamp 4 which comprises the members 12 and 13formed into a double inverted U to provide the :grip 14 for thereception of the garment. Suspension at the opposite side is in theclamp 5 which comprises the fixed jaw 15 and movable jaws 1616 heldtensionably against the fixed jaw 15 by the coil springs 17-17. Thesprings 17-17 are attached at 18 to the fixed jaw 15. It will be seenalso that the jaws 16-46 are provided at their outer ends with hooks19-19.

Reference now to Figure 2 in the drawings will illustrate a garment 20suspended at one side by the grip 14 as was described for the garment 11and suspended at the opposite side on the hooks 19-19 which are extendedthrough the loops 2121 which could be the common belt loops on a pair oftrousers, skirt or the like.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4 in the draw ings the arm 2 isformed into a single hooked portion 22 at the lower end thereof and itis intended that a garment be suspended on this hook 22 which would beinserted through belt loops 21-21 in a manner similar to that seen inFigure 2 in the drawings.

'What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a garment hangar having a helical coil engage able loosely withthe bottom bar of a coat hangar; a first arm fixed rigidly to the coilto extend downwardly with respect to the bottom bar of the coat hangarand terminating in a garment engaging clamp; a second arm fixed rigidlyto the coil to extend therefrom at an angle with respect to the firstarm, such second arm being movable to cant the coil into frictionalengagement with the bar; a hook on the second arm engageable with thebar to maintain the coil in the canted position.

2. In combination with a coat hangar having a bottom bar, a garmenthangar having angularly disposed arms, a helical coil interconnectingthe arms and being engageable loosely with the bottom bar of the coathangar, a garment clamp on one of the arms, the other arm being movableto cant the coil into frictional engagement with the bar, a hook on thesaid other arm engageable with the movable jaws include coil springsfastened to the the bar to maintain the coil in the cantcd position.fixed jaw to maintain the movable jaws under tension 3. A garment hangaras claimed in claim 1 wherein with respect to the fixed jaw.

the garment clamp comprises a plurality of downwardly extending jaws,one of which is fixed, the remainder being movable tensionably withrespect to the fixed jaw UNITED STATES PATENTS and having hooks thereonfor engagement with a garment. 2,129,455 Wisehart et a1. Sept. 6, 19384. The garment hangar as claimed in claim 3 wherein 2,211,998 Allen Aug.20, 1940 References Cited in the file of this patent

